For many Jews across the world, a central element of Ḥanukka is the kindling of fire throughout the eight nights of the holiday. While many of us—Sephardic and Ashkenazic alike—are familiar with the method of lighting taught by Hillel, one Sephardic community explicitly deviates from this widespread custom. For Spanish Jews who arrived in Aleppo…
From the Book of Genesis to 23andMe, Jews have always been irresistibly drawn to the practice and study of genealogy. Whether filling out a family tree, finding lost relatives, or hoping to reveal some long-hidden chapter of one’s ancestry, genealogy and genetic testing have given individuals a more concrete and biologically-based grasp on their place…
The Damascus Affair was well documented by the personalities of its time and has been awarded significant prominence in Jewish historiography ever since. Some consider this incident as marking a turning point, the rise of a new era in Jewish history. Diplomatic archives from England, France, the United States, and Austria, as well as memoirs,…
Within Jewish tradition there are sources that express not just tolerance toward aspects of Muslim religiosity, but intellectual and religious respect and admiration. It is important to become acquainted with these sources, and to consider their implications. Here I consider one such source, found in the writings of R. Yiṣḥaq Farḥi of Jerusalem (1782-1853). R….
In the ramp up to the final moments of the election in Lebanon (May 6th, 2018), many politicians work to please their voters. Sadly, in Sidon, this means the physical erasing of the Jewish community. The Jews of Sidon believe that their community dates back to the first arrival of Israelites (roughly 1000 BCE) and…
The jewel case cover of the 2016 recording by a well-respected baroque orchestra is indeed evocative. A panorama of mosques rises out of the sand of medieval Cairo in earthy tones and we see the outlines of covered Muslim women carrying ceramic vessels on their heads as they disappear into a dusty sunset. Faux-Arabic letters…
